Soil fungi
Soil fungi are microscopic plant-like cells that grow
in long threadlike structures or hyphae that make a
mass called mycelium. The mycelium absorbs
nutrients from the roots it has colonised, surface
organic matter or the soil. It produces special hyphae
that create the reproductive spores. Some fungi are
single celled (eg yeast). Fungi have many different
structures but they can act in similar ways and thus
are not as plant specific in their needs as some soil
bacteria such as Rhizobia.
Fungi groups
There are three functional groups of fungi.
Decomposers
Decomposers or saprophytic fungi convert dead
organic matter into fungal biomass (ie their own
bodies), carbon dioxide and organic acids. They are
essential for the decomposition of hard woody
organic matter. By consuming the nutrients in the
organic matter they play an important role in
immobilising and retaining nutrients in the soil. The
organic acids they produce as by products help create
organic matter that is resistant to degradation. Fungi
are capable of degrading cellulose, proteins and
lignin, some of which are highly resistant to
breakdown.
Mutualists
These fungi develop mutually beneficial relationships
with plants. They colonise plant roots where they
help the plant to obtain nutrients such as phosphorus
from the soil. Their mass hides roots from pests and
pathogens, and provides a greater root area through
which the plant can obtain nutrients.
Mycorrhizal fungi
Mycorrhizal fungi are perhaps the best known of the
mutualists. Mycorrhiza means fungus root, and
mycorrhizal fungi grow inside plant roots. Up to 5m
of living hyphae of mycorrhizal fungi can be
extracted from 1g of soil. The four groups of
mycorrhizal fungi are arbuscular, ectomycorrhizal,
ericoid and orchid. Arbuscular mycorrhiza (VAM)
are the most common form of mycorrhiza, especially
in agricultural plant associations. This fungi has
arbuscles which are growths formed inside the plant
root that have many small projections going into the
cells. About 150 arbuscular mycorrhiza species are
known. Most plants (90%) have some sort of
association with these fungi except for groups such as
the Cruciferae family (eg mustard, canola, broccoli),
Chenopodiaceae (eg spinach, beets, saltbush) and
Proteaceae (banksia, macadamia).
Pathogens
This group includes the well known fungi such as
Verticillium, Phytophthora, Rhizoctonia and
Pythium. These organisms penetrate the plant and
decompose the living tissue, creating a weakened,
nutrient deficient plant, or death. The pathogenic
fungi is usually the dominant organism in the soil.
Soils with high biodiversity have been shown to
suppress soil-borne fungal diseases. Suppression
mechanisms include the suite of native organisms
out-competing the pathogenic organisms, physically
protecting roots and providing better nutrition to the
plant.
What do fungi do?
Fungi perform important functions within the soil in
relation to nutrient cycling, disease suppression and
water dynamics, all of which help plants become
healthier and more vigorous.
Decompose woody organic matter
Along with bacteria, fungi are important
decomposers of hard to digest organic matter. They
use nitrogen in the soil to decompose woody carbon
rich residues low in nitrogen and convert the
nutrients in the residues to forms that are more
accessible for other organisms.
Increase nutrient uptake
Mycorrhizal fungi are well known for their role in
assisting plants in the uptake of phosphorus.
Ectomycorrhizal fungi can benefit plants by
promoting root branching and increasing nitrogen,
phosphorus and water uptake due to their large
surface area and internal cellular mechanisms. .
Improve plant resilience
The sheer size and mass of fungal hyphae help
decrease plant susceptibility to pests, diseases and
drought.
Improve soil structure
Fungal hyphae bind the soil particles together to
create water-stable aggregates which in turn create
the pore spaces in the soil that enhance water
retention and drainage.
Where are fungi found?
Fungi are found wherever there is hard, carbon-rich
woody organic matter. This could be dead rotting
trees in a forest, leaf litter on the surface of orchard
soils, or plant roots.
Mycorrhizal fungi are found naturally in all soils.
Techniques to determine their presence usually focus
on indirect methods or look at the colonisation of
plant roots and are therefore not that reliable. It is
difficult to get mycorrhizal fungi to grow outside
their natural state, but staining techniques and
microscopy have been useful in identifying
mycorrhiza from soil and plant samples.
Fungi tend to dominate over bacteria and
actinomycetes in acid soils as they can tolerate a wide
pH range.
Fungi can survive in the soil for long periods even
through periods of water deficit by living in dead
plant roots and/or as spores or fragments of hyphae.
Management of soil fungi
There are several things you can do to encourage
fungi in your soil.
Provide a hospitable environment
To ensure fungi remain in the earth the soil
environment must be kept as hospitable as possible.
This means there must be enough food (organic
matter), suitable host plants (if necessary), water and
minimal disturbance of the soil.
Reduce tillage
Tillage has a disastrous effect on fungi as it
physically severs the hyphae and breaks up the
mycelium.
Reduce fungicide use
Broad-spectrum fungicides are toxic to a range of
fungi. Their use will result in a decline in the
numbers of beneficial types. Herbicides are not
generally thought to affect fungi directly, though the
removal of some plant types may affect the
distribution of different fungi types.
Grow plants that encourage mycorrhizal fungi
There are certain plant groups that do not form
associations with mycorrhizal fungi. When these
plants are included in a rotation, fungi numbers drop
due to the lack of host plants and this reduces fungi
colonisation in the following crop. A bare fallow has
the same effect. Mycorrhiza increase under pasture
because pasture includes highly mycorrhizal plants
such as grasses and legumes. VAM numbers reduce
under wheat, canola and lupin. A low level of
mycorrhizal colonisation in plants is also associated
with high available phosphorus levels in the soil.
More information
Soil biology basics is an information series
describing basic concepts in soil biology. For more
detailed information we recommend the Australian
book Soil biological fertility:A key to sustainable
land use in agriculture (2003), edited by Lyn Abbott
& Daniel Murphy.
NSWDPI has online soil biology information at
http://www.agric.nsw.gov.au/reader/soil-biology.
The University of WA has online soil biology
information at
http://ice.agric.uwa.edu.au/soils/soilhealth.
Also see:
• US Department of Agriculture, Soil Biology
Unit. Jan 2004. Soil biology and land
management
http://soils.usda.gov/sqi/concepts/soil_biology/
index.html
Written by Abigail Jenkins
©2005 State of New South Wales
Department of Primary Industries
The information contained in this publication is based on
knowledge and understanding at the time of writing (2005).
However, because of advances in knowledge, users are reminded
of the need to ensure that information on which they rely is up to
date, and to check the currency of the information with the
appropriate officer of NSW Department of Primary Industries or the
user’s independent adviser.